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Retention of 3rd graders bill softened

Democrats say bill is flawed

By Milan Simonich

The New Mexican

Posted:
02/11/2014 02:33:40 PM MST

SANTA FE >> State Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, a retired teacher and school administrator, on Monday dramatically softened her own bill that called for mass retention of third-graders who do not read proficiently.

Garcia amended the bill so that forced retentions no longer are part of the bill. Instead, the main emphasis would be on screening assessments of children and then providing extra help for struggling readers in kindergarten through third grade.

Even so, Democrats who control the House Education Committee said parts of Garcia's bill were flawed and asked for informal meetings to rework it. Garcia, D-Las Cruces, agreed to huddle with Rep. Mimi Stewart, who chairs the committee, on possible refinements.

Under current state law, parents have a one-time veto over retention of a student. After that, schools have full power to hold back a child.

Gov. Susana Martinez says this system has fostered a culture of "social promotion," in which unprepared kids are passed on to the next grade. Martinez, a Republican, favors mandatory retention of third-graders who do not read proficiently.

Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said retention rates for kids in kindergarten through second grade now range from 2 percent to 4 percent. In third grade, the numbers dip to 1 percent to 2 percent, she said.

Garcia stripped mandatory retention from her bill after listening to fellow education professionals who said it would do more harm than good.

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Stewart said that, with the concession, Garcia's bill essentially makes no changes to the existing law on student retention.

Stewart is an opponent of blanket retention of students, but she said she still did not like other parts of the bill. For instance, it removes math as a measure of a child's academic proficiency and it makes a standardized test the sole barometer of reading proficiency.

"Our math scores are lower than they are in reading," Stewart said, objecting to the rifle-shot emphasis in the bill.

Stewart also said that a broader range of assessments ought to be used to gauge reading proficiency.

Republicans on the House Education Committee supported Garcia's original call for forced retentions. "Our students can't read and they're promoting them," said Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell.

Republican Rep. Dennis Roch, a school superintendent from Logan, said he sees mandatory retentions as an essential reform for public schools.

The state Public Education Department said about 5,200 third-graders scored so low on reading last year that they would be candidates for retention.

But about two-thirds of those kids would have received exemptions from any retention law because they are disabled and already have individualized instruction plans.

That would have left about 1,750 third-graders subject to retention under Garcia's original bill. But they also could have appealed and asked for waivers so they could move ahead to fourth grade.

Mass retention of students has been challenged by various legislators and teachers as ineffective.

Sen. Bill Soules, a teacher from Las Cruces, said summer school, reading coaches and early detection of sub-par readers were the keys to helping kids succeed. Forced retentions actually are harmful to kids, said Soules, a Democrat.

In the Senate, a retention bill similar to Garcia's original version is still alive. Sponsored by Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs, it will face heavy opposition in the Senate Education Committee, of which Soules is a member.

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